For those who have had Pinched Nerves

[gruntlabor]

On a bamboo tray, I have a tea kettle, a wooden container of Uruguayan or Argentinian loose-leaf yerba tea, a maté cup (a dried gourd made into a small round cup), and a bombilla (a metal straw with a little spoon-shaped strainer at the end).

In either a quiet room or out on the patio, I sit on a cushion with the tray in front of me. I set the kettle on a single-burner, single cylinder propane stove, and while the water heats up, I prepare the cup -spoon in the yerba and a little bit of sugar- and then I meditate. When the water gets to about 140F, I slowly pour it over the tea til the cup is about 1/2 full, slip in the straw, and if I see a bubbly little foam on top, I finish the pour. (if not, the water needs more heat)

I casually sip at the first cup til the water's gone, and do another pour. After the 4th cup, you usually dump out most of the tea and replace it with fresh, but I usually only have 3 or 4 cups. Also, in addition to my traditional gourd cups, I have a few maté cups that are carved out of wood. The cups infuse the tea with their flavor, and I'm liking the wood ones best these days.

Anyway, I do this 2 or 3 times a day. The tea is a bit bitter but really yummy. It gives you a feeling of general well-being, and the ritual is calming, to say the least.

Traditionally (in South America), you have yerba maté with a group; it's a social thing where the pourer has the first cup, refills it and gives it to the person to his/her right, and so on; but no one around here drinks maté. A few of my grandkids have it with me when they visit, and me and Paxton used to drink it together once in a while, but I enjoy doing my quiet rituals alone. It's been good for me.

Thank you, Murrmurr.

 

[Ruthanne]

Ruthann, Pinched nerves can be so
problematic and I sure hope you get
some relief from yours over time. I feel
for you. I some years back had pinched
nerves in my cervical spine, it took some
months to feel it was finally corrected, that
was along with meds and PT. Sending you
a hug

Thank you. I can hardly walk at times and get horrible pain in legs and butt.

 

[GoodEnuff]

Back then, your therapist was fully informed about your condition. They'd gone over your history, images, treatments, and progress up to that point, and tailored your rehab program accordingly.

These days, the only thing the therapists know about you is your name, DOB, and dx code, and, like a lot of other things, you get a one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter "rehab" program that will bring some relief to patients with the most common ailments, such as degenerative disc disease. And, as you probably know, those particular exercises do nothing for your degenerated disc or the inflammation and nerve disturbance it can cause. They're designed to strengthen the muscles supporting your spine, and they're very simple.

With a demonstration or two, or even just a few illustrations on a sheet of paper, you can definitely learn them and do them at home.

Oh, my! I must have been lucky because the PT and I discussed the problems, diagnosis, etc., in detail. At the first visit, she told me one leg was shorter than the other (not unusual) and placed a "lift" inside that shoe, had me walk around, adjusted it, walk some more, adjusted it until my gait was equalized. You are correct in that the purpose is to build muscle strength to support spine/hip problems. The facility is a seven minute easy drive from my home.

After about six weeks of going, life became very busy and I asked her to put together an at home program. She printed out the exercises, some of which are yoga-based, organized them in a specific sequence with stretches first, then graduating to the more difficult ones. Different ones, every other day. And one thing she told me was not to "push" myself too hard, a behavior which she had observed.

I am so sorry your experience was not the best! Today, my equipment is being moved to a new area in my home which will make getting back to it much better.

The interesting thing is that she also said she thinks my hip is greatly contributing to this back problem. I tend to agree with her but have not been back to doctor to confirm. A hip replacement may be in my future. Ugh.

 

[GoodEnuff]

It's best to set your mind, that you "must" do your stretching and exercises every morning, to keep your standard of living. Don't allow yourself to make excuses.

I've been pretty good at those excuses the past couple of months. But today, those excuses will be going away as I have a helper coming to move things back in place since the renovations are complete and everything won't be crammed into one small space. The good thing is that I have had to do some of the work myself, which required bending, stretching, etc., so maybe that makes up for it? IDK.

 

[Murrmurr]

Oh, my! I must have been lucky because the PT and I discussed the problems, diagnosis, etc., in detail. At the first visit, she told me one leg was shorter than the other (not unusual) and placed a "lift" inside that shoe, had me walk around, adjusted it, walk some more, adjusted it until my gait was equalized. You are correct in that the purpose is to build muscle strength to support spine/hip problems. The facility is a seven minute easy drive from my home.

After about six weeks of going, life became very busy and I asked her to put together an at home program. She printed out the exercises, some of which are yoga-based, organized them in a specific sequence with stretches first, then graduating to the more difficult ones. Different ones, every other day. And one thing she told me was not to "push" myself too hard, a behavior which she had observed.

I am so sorry your experience was not the best! Today, my equipment is being moved to a new area in my home which will make getting back to it much better.

The interesting thing is that she also said she thinks my hip is greatly contributing to this back problem. I tend to agree with her but have not been back to doctor to confirm. A hip replacement may be in my future. Ugh.

There are Physical Therapy clinics (PTC), and then there's Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) facilities, and there's a massive difference between the two. It's standardized physical therapy exercises vs physical rehabilitation and healing.


My introduction to therapy was at a PM&R facility, and my licensed therapist was just as you described. She'd gone over all my medical records and images, asked me relevant questions at an in-person assessment, established a baseline, and tailored my rehabilitation accordingly.

I could barely walk when I started. Actually, I couldn't walk at all without holding onto the nearest thing. My legs didn't propel me forward, I fell forward to latch onto the next pole, pillar, or piece of furniture, and dragged my legs up to me. I couldn't even use a walker yet. My legs weren't paralyzed, they just constantly did their own thing; shook, twitched, flailed, or played dead.

Within 6 weeks, I was walking in and out of that place like a normal person with a slight limp. That was about 30 years ago. I've been to a PTC three times over the years since, and it was time wasted. 100%.

The last clinic I went to paired me with a therapist who knew nothing about me and didn't ask me any questions except one: "Do you go by Frank or Franklin?" (Franklin is my given name. I go by Frank.) Other than my preferred name, all she knew was which PT program she was to use from a menu of probly fewer than half a dozen. It was like going to a McDonald's where a complete stranger selects your meal for you.

I was greeted by this bleached-blond, heavily made-up, 30-something woman whose boobs were probably only 30% natural, and it was immediately obvious she had minimal training, like she'd gone to some career college for a one-semester course, or worse, completed an "at your own pace" online course.

Unbelievably, she wore a cowgirl hat and high-heel boots, had a ring on every finger, and she was in her street clothes; an urban-cowgirl Elly Mae-ish kind of outfit. She had me lie on the bare floor...the bare floor...while she sat on the edge of a table swinging her dangling pink and green cowgirl-booted feet, and read off instructions from 2 sheets of paper. "Okay, now lay your arms above your head and lift your butt. Okay, good, now rest your left ankle on your right knee...." and so forth. She only took her eyes off those papers to briefly compare what I was doing to the illustrations on them before moving on to the next thing.

Would have been picture-perfect if a blade of straw-grass hung from her lip.

That was like 5 or 6yrs ago. I went that one time, and haven't gone to a PTC since. I have an appointment at my med group's PM&R facility next month, but it's for trigger-point injections ...with an actual doctor. And I've been his patient for about a dozen years now.

 

[Been There]

I had a pinched nerve after my first jump out of a helicopter. The Doc told me to rest and gave me enough OxyContin to get through the weekend and I was to see him again on Monday. On Monday, he told me to use ice for 20 minutes on it every 4 hours until he saw me again on Friday. The pain was gone on Tuesday, so I canceled the appointment. Every so often, it comes back for only a few minutes.

 

[Brookswood]

Unbelievably, she wore a cowgirl hat and high-heel boots, had a ring on every finger, and she was in her street clothes; an urban-cowgirl Elly Mae-ish kind of outfit. She had me lie on the bare floor...the bare floor...while she sat on the edge of a table swinging her dangling pink and green cowgirl-booted feet, and read off instructions from 2 sheets of paper. "Okay, now lay your arms above your head and lift your butt. Okay, good, now rest your left ankle on your right knee...." and so forth. She only took her eyes off those papers to briefly compare what I was doing to the illustrations on them before moving on to the next thing.

I think some PT people just have a book of exercises from which they throw a few exercises at you and see if they help. If they don't, they open the book and throw a few new exercises at you. This is not what I am paying for.